The Wings Of A Butterfly
by sctwilightvampwolfgal
Summary: Gabriel had at one point wanted to be a butterfly, considered that the term for the wings that sprouted from his back much like his mother, whom he'd always admired, but times change and so do feelings. *Animal OmegaVerse AU.* *Final chapter posted 12/13/17.*
1. Chapter 1

In a relatively well off home, a young Butterfly boy gets ready for his first ever day of school, wings tucked easily around the loose fitting T-Shirt that he wore, because it was just easier.

He's five and as of right now, is still learning how to handle his wings; should he regularly tuck them out of sight? They seemed to flutter in his excitement, a light purple and gray.

Gabriel's eager to make friends with the kids at his new school; the only friend that was even remotely close to his age was a little girl a year younger than him that moved away last month.

He didn't think that anything was amiss; his mom was a butterfly like him with soft almost blue wings while his father was a fox. Both of his parents were kind enough Betas, and he always felt welcome in their home.

His grandmother called herself a moth rather than a butterfly; Gabriel had always considered himself more of a butterfly, because his mom called herself one, thrilled over the thought of butterflies being such gentle and loving creatures in the eyes of the world, coming out during the day among the excited joy of tentatively watching them come out of their cocoons.

Gabriel doubted that he'd much want to be called a moth anyway since they were so mysterious and always hid in the dark; he'd much rather be free especially since lately he'd taken to designing a few cute ideas that worked around wings, mostly dresses that seemed like his mom would just shine in them.

He naturally was quite eager to go to school as his mom hauled him off into the car; his father already claiming the driver's seat.

Gabriel's eyes were alight with joy as he gazed out the window and found that his wings had taken to fluttering again in nervous excitement.

What if the other kids found it weird how Gabriel had been designing clothes lately? Would they think it odd that he wanted to learn to sew and knit and just anything to make his ideas come to life as he hadn't yet learned how to do?

Gabriel shook his head at the thought; everyone liked different things from the way his mom and dad talked with such bright smiles on their faces.

Their young son was free to be whoever he wanted to be, and if that was a fashion designer, he could well do it.


	2. Chapter 2

"Are those wings?" A little girl gasped; her light reddish brown ears twisted to and fro on top of her head, and Gabriel vaguely wondered if she was a fox.

"Yeah," Gabriel grinned, and while the girl touched his wings with wonder, and left the small boy excited to have been met with such enthusiasm, it didn't last long.

"Oh, I heard somewhere that those that are butterflies are actually girls." It was a boy in his class, whose eyes glowed with a sudden joy at that fact though Gabriel figured that it was ludicrous; he's obviously a boy.

"Is that so?" A dark haired girl came closer, small eyes perched on her head, half hidden by the dark locks of hair running over them.

"Yeah," The one boy's grin didn't falter, and Gabriel suddenly felt the urge to hit him, to do something to wipe off the look on his face that left Gabriel feeling sick like he'd came down with a cold.

"He doesn't look like a girl." Argued the girl that had first brought attention to him; he had someone defending him!  
"Still." The first boy said with a smirk, and the girl backed down.

Gabriel instantly felt crowded, in danger, when most of the class ended up around him and the girl that had admired his wings had gone silent and stared at her feet; he felt like he'd lost his new friend already.

Immediately his other classmates kept asking him questions; several of which asked if he was a girl or whether he had any girly hobbies.

Gabriel regretted crying later when it only made the noise pick up in intensity; he suddenly realized that he hated those wings on his back, hated his mother's whole bloodline, and almost right away wanted to call himself a moth to just avoid the teasing and the stares, the random touches that he hadn't given them permission for, and just everything.

He couldn't focus on his bright blue and gray dress that he was designing for his mother past all of the awfulness of today.

May be he'd design something less wing accommodating, like something that hid his own wings, or something that was paired to go with ears and a tail.

Gabriel wished with all of his might that he was a fox like his father, so that he wouldn't have to go to school and be teased over being a butterfly boy.


	3. Chapter 3

Some people were just mean; Gabriel discovered.

Time hadn't made that first bully any kinder at all; much to the disappointment of his main victim, Gabriel Agreste.

"So you're telling me that you're a gay, little butterfly right?" Sam, the fox, teased though it definitely wasn't kind.

"No, I'm not gay." Gabriel hated how his voice seemed to be in the awkward, squeaky phase now which really did not help when his main bully was standing before him with a smirk on his face.

"Are you sure, because you look it? A male fashion designer that's a butterfly? How more gay could you get? I'm sure that your first heat will hit in soon enough." Sam smirked though Gabriel felt burning rage coil around his stomach.

He felt weird; he decided.

Gabriel was half positive that his eyes flashed red in red, hot anger, and his fists curled into two, tight little balls.

"I am not just some Omega that you can boss around." Gabriel was suddenly shouting, leaping forward and busting the nose of the Alpha fox before him.

"Oh, the little butterfly's had enough, has he?" The fox riled up Gabriel so much; he really wanted to break more than his nose. Perhaps a dead fox really said less than a living one.

"I told you before, I'm a moth." Gabriel hadn't really explained to his mom before why he suddenly wanted to be called a moth and not a butterfly; she still sometimes said goodbye to her little 'butterfly.'

"Oh, is that so?" Sam's smile never seemed to fade now that he had it back.

Gabriel's head pounded with rushing blood and piling aggression; would he get in trouble for beating this fox black and bloody? He probably would, but it felt more tempting to the thirteen year old than anything else.

His body seemed built for aggression despite his wings, despite what his mom called him, despite the name calling and insults that Sam bestowed upon him.

His wings snapped aggressively behind him, trying to break through his shirt that clung tight enough that his wings could not slip out; they weren't strong enough to rip the fabric anyway.

Gabriel had just managed to pin Sam to one of the cold, hard lockers behind him and punch him another time, this time right above his heart, when a teacher caught them fighting.

"Boys, I know that you're both Alphas, but you don't have to fight." The male teacher smiled slightly though he seemed to realize something a bit late, "Is it your first rut, Gabriel? Go to the nurse's office, and I'll call your parents for them to explain what's happening."

Gabriel's wings drooped; he could feel them though he was a little relieved that often time with first ruts, the offense went unpunished.

He wasn't the sort to pick fights, preferred handling things with more well timed words than balancing a first fight or an all out fight; he shivered slightly in fear of what his parents would say, and suddenly remembered that none of his parents were Alphas.

Would they know how to handle this at all?


	4. Chapter 4

Despite Gabriel being an Alpha as his first rut proved, he was still ostracized by the main populace at school.

He wasn't a quitter, and so never begged to not go to school; he still wanted to be a successful fashion designer, but he felt that his designs were going nowhere lately.

There was no spark to them, no sudden bursts of passionate enthusiasm; Gabriel sighed.

Being fifteen was a lot like being thirteen, just he was less squeaky.

He'd beaten Sam in many, many fights, and yet nothing had stopped the other teenager from constantly trying to prove his worth by beating up a moth.

His eyes flickered up from the gray gown that he was drawing that design wise felt way too flat, and he managed to catch sight of a cat that he'd never seen before.

Her blond hair fell down her back, her black ears perked up high, as she laughed; she was talking to a couple friends of hers: one, a peacock, and the other, a smaller fox.

She, still giggling, separating from the group with a cheery wave before walking over to Gabriel, "Hi, I'm sort of new here, and I was wondering if you'd mind giving me a bit of a tour?"

His eyes darted up to her, and suddenly, he realized that she could be a model; long, lithe figure, gorgeous green eyes that stood out like gemstones, and blond hair gently falling past black cat ears. A tail flickered distractingly behind her.

"I wouldn't mind." Gabriel took her hand as he stood up, hating the fact that his mouth suddenly went dry, and his heart began to race.

"Is that a dress?" She pressed closer with that same cheery smile, way too kind for her own good.

"Yeah." Gabriel took another deep breath, holding his sketchbook further away from her sight; he could do way better, had a sudden onslaught of new ideas bursting through his head.

"It's pretty." She smiled back at him, and suddenly Gabriel wondered if it was possible to fall more in love with someone without yet becoming friends with them.

"Thank you." Gabriel remembered his manners belatedly, but led her carefully away, already asking what her next class was and what her favorite subject was.

She leaned closer to him as she smiled, "It's so hard to decide." Her eyes twinkled. "You know, I've always liked fashion, but I can't design a single outfit, and I know that I'm not pretty enough to be a model." She shrugged as if it was an easy thought to come to her.

"You are pretty enough." Gabriel felt his cheeks flush under that admittance; he wasn't used to talking to anyone like her.

She smiled back at him as she turned towards him, "Thank you."

Gabriel figured that he just liked being around her; she'd walked up to him and talked to him, liked one of his worst designs, and even hadn't realized that he was a moth yet which meant that she couldn't possibly judge him for that.


	5. Chapter 5

Gabriel grew surprised at learning that the reason that his best friend didn't think that she could become a model was the small adorning of peacock feathers that rose up just below her shoulder and to her neck.

They were easily hidden in any shirt that she wore, but she'd taken the chance kind of like how he'd taken the chance to let her see his wings the week before.

She'd adored them, called them the prettiest wings that she'd seen on anyone ever, and she'd pressed closer to touch them and like his family's touch and the first touches by the little girl back when he started school before she gave up, it was kind and gentle.

She'd now spun around, dressed in a tank top to show him her feathers, "My parents are peacocks. I was born a little special." She sighed.

"They're beautiful." Gabriel told her, not able to help how awed his voice sounded, "So are you technically a peacock cat Omega?"

She laughed; the sound was airy and light. It sent a rippling effect to his heart, lifting up a certain level of joy to it.

"I guess so." She spun back around and gave him a hug, "I haven't shown anyone before you. Just my immediate family and I knew."

Gabriel smiled though a part of him was still nervous as he reached out a hand to grab her own and asked very genuinely, "Do you want to go out and get coffee tomorrow?"

She smiled another one of her dazzling smiles and nodded, "I'd love to if you'll be my moth."

"Always." Gabriel muttered, feeling the echo of that exclamation trail throughout every inch of himself; his skin buzzed at the thought of always loving her like he did now.

"Okay, then this peacock cat is yours, dear Alpha." She teased though it was gentle and loving, and suddenly Gabriel wanted to kiss her though he'd save that for after a few dates as they grew closer in time.


	6. Chapter 6

"You really think that we're the perfect ones for this?" She leaned forward, pretty engagement ring shining in the light that fell through the curtain as if just trying to highlight the ring on her finger as it only landed there.

"I do." Master Fu smiled and didn't look alarmed as the soon to be Mrs. Agreste threw her head back and laughed.

"My dear," Gabriel smiled as he spoke to her, "Why are you laughing?"

She giggled, not quite fast enough to catch her snort, "I'm getting the peacock Miraculous as if I'm full peacock! Don't you see fate's had it out for me since the beginning?"

Master Fu smiled but didn't say anything about that.

"You're just wonderful at whatever you do." Gabriel leaned closer to her as he stared at her engagement ring and remembered that just a few hours before, she'd agreed to be his lead model to the clothing brand, Gabriel, that he'd just launched.

She rolled her eyes and glanced back at him with a smile, "Gabriel, honey, it makes perfect sense for you. Hawkmoth, the hero." She snuggled closer to his side with another radiant smile though her shirt fell slightly in the back, and he could see her feathers again.

"Of course, it's perfect for you too." He told her, retracing those old markings of her feathers with his eyes.

"I'm only half peacock." She told him with a smirk, "The other half cat, in fact Master Fu," She smiled at him, "I'd better fit the cat Miraculous."

"No, someone else after you will be the cat." Master Fu told her calmly, "You'll be our peacock."

She sighed, shaking her head, but otherwise accepting her Miraculous, "I can't believe it, my fiance and I will be saving the world by each other's sides and running a new clothing line together."

"You always wanted the best." Gabriel teased, smiling when his fiance turned to him with another one of her dazzling grins.

"Only with you." She sighed.

"I wish you luck." Master Fu told them, smiling when she shook her head.

"I was lucky enough to meet Gabriel who accepts all of me and sees things in me that I certainly can't. Besides I've never needed luck with him by my side." She declared, ignoring the smile that Master Fu sent her way at that declaration.


	7. Chapter 7

More than a few months had passed since she'd become La Peon, and since Gabriel had become Hawkmoth.

They'd finally tied the knot and now Mrs. Agreste lay on a hospital bed as her husband held her hand; their fashion business had actually been doing well, mostly due to her husband's designs, she figured.

Gabriel managed to design pieces that fit for her so well, things that hinted at the fact that she definitely had peacock feathers, though none so much as revealed her feathers; he still ran ideas by her before hand, just to make sure that she was completely comfortable with the idea of wearing a design like that.

She'd just managed to fall more in love with Gabriel's designs under the blossoming business that she was the main model for and at the beginning, the only model that they could afford.

Mrs. Agreste had grown used to the regular effort of posing before the camera and had blossomed under the work; she'd always insisted that it was Gabriel's designs though he'd said that it had always been her.

She shone in his eyes which still often enough surprised her despite the amount of time that they'd known each other; fifteen felt so long ago and yet almost like yesterday with how near it felt.

Mrs. Agreste though found herself squeezing her husband's hand and pushing; after they'd gotten married, it hadn't taken long for her to get pregnant with their first child together.

They'd discussed baby names for months; some of which made her snort, and they'd both laugh being absolutely positive that that name in particular didn't fit at all.

She'd convinced her husband to keep their first baby's gender a secret until he was born and the species a secret as well; she knew better than probably anyone how her husband hoped that if it was a boy, he wouldn't be a moth like him.

Mrs. Agreste had perhaps spent too many days, too many hours, telling her husband that it didn't matter what anyone said, he was absolutely handsome, and that moths or butterflies could be equally masculine.

Gabriel would have none of that, had she not been as distracted as she was giving birth to their son, she would have rolled her eyes at the memory.

She'd only ever wanted her husband to be happy and yet she understood his own insecurities about as well as she understood her own; she'd dealt with the fact that she wasn't particularly normal, was more than a little strange biologically, and while her husband worried over whether they'd have a butterfly boy, she worried that their son or daughter would be a mixture of two species and have to figure out how to either embrace that fact or nearly extinguish their other side.

Mrs. Agreste finally felt her newborn baby leave her: a sudden onslaught of pain softened to a tired feeling.

She blinked her green eyes open, realizing only after the look that one of the hospital staff gave her that she probably resembled her most dominant species very much.

Mrs. Agreste beamed when they told her that it was a boy and passed little 'Adrien' as they'd call him over; he had dark, black cat ears on top of his head and happy green eyes.

She beamed as she leaned over to show her husband their adorable little baby boy, almost not needing to speak over what they'd name him; it came with a certain kind of ease, perhaps from all of the hours that they'd debated names, perhaps over just this moment.

Mrs. Agreste was relieved that he wasn't a mixture of two species, and she could nearly feel her husband's relief over the fact that he didn't have wings.

Her smile relaxed, and she remembered the difficulty of first getting her Miraculous, how the first transformation both felt freeing almost like releasing a side of herself to the world that had never before been seen or acknowledged, and painful.

She'd struggled under the responsibility of becoming La Paon, had been relieved to find that her cat ears were harder to spot when transformed, making it nearly impossible to notice her, and yet how her feathers sprouted up higher around her neck.

Mrs. Agreste had played the part well and loved helping her husband save the day whether it was making sure that a bank robbery never got completed or freeing hostages from a dangerous situation.

They weren't overwhelmingly famous, didn't have to be, but the police had come to respect them over time.

She spun to face her husband with another happy smile, wondering if he could guess what she was remembering in the way that she'd come to truly understand him; Gabriel leaned forward and kissed her.

"You look beautiful as La Paon. You're still the most incredible Omega that I've met and the best peacock as well." Gabriel kissed her again, not having pulled far away after the first kiss for it to really count as two kisses.

"Gabriel, I'm your kitty now, not La Paon." Her smile only grew more dazzling as she nestled closer against her husband, relieved now to be here with him and their newborn son.

She had a good feeling about this, trusted that they'd all make it through together, and that the world definitely had a few more lovely surprises coming their way that may, just may, make the bad times worth it in the end.


End file.
